uk_martin Posted September 23, 2019 Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 7 minutes ago, Trees said: So are Leszno the richest club in Poland, do they have the best/richest/most generous 'sponsors'? How do you measure "richness"? Capital assets? Revenue? Share holdiers personal wealth? As PolskiZuzel said, there's a wage cap that binds the clubs, in the same way as happens in American Football's NFL. So that then levels out the playing field for how much of a clubs "riches" can be spent on riders. How much more in the way of capital assets and/or revenue a club has or gets after that doesn't come into it. The biggest difference between who can afford which rider and who can't is in the addtitional sponsorship packages that they are able to arrange on behalf of the riders. And that comes down more to how good your efforts and abilities are to attract sponsors, not how big your bank balance is. And that's one of the major differences between Polish and British speedway clubs. Here, on the whole, the clubs look for sponsorship for themselves and leave the riders to get their own sponsorship. As PolskiZuzel says, in Poland, the clubs arrange a riders sponsorship for them to at least a major degree. Obviously, riders will get additional approaches by sponsors over there, but a good base line is arranged by the clubs, in order to make their contracts attractive. Another major difference is the kind of sponsor that Polish riders get. Piotr Protasiewicz has had a long term sponsorship deal with a multi national company Pentel. You've probably used a Pentel pen yourself at some point. A British rider would be lucky to get a sponsorship with Penny's Pen Shop in Penns Lane. That sort of thing makes a difference. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_martin Posted September 23, 2019 Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 (edited) 44 minutes ago, Trees said: Yes, doesn't seem quite right does it, it's like Kings Lynn having Robert Lambert at reserve all season ..... No doubt the Polish conveyor belt of good young riders will bring another one through for Leszno .... Not right for who? It works for Poland. It could work for Great Britain if junior riders were "protected" more in the reserve berths instead of burning them out too soon. Just look at the number of young riders who've jacked the sport in these past few years. I've never known anything like it. All we're left with now are budding young British Champions blossoming to fruition in their mid-30's. It wasn't that many years ago that a certain Patryk Dudek and Bartosz Zmarzlik spent a few years at #6 or #7 for their respective teams. It didn't do them any harm, and when Poland won the last SWC with effectively an u23 side, it shows that it doesn't do the national team any harm either. As I said, it could work in this country, and I think it should be made to work in this country. If your club uncovers a British gem of a rider, then why not let that club benefit from their discovery, and whatever investment they make in that rider? That should be the team's reward for doing something in the national interrest. But instead look what happens. As soon as a budding young British rider starts outscoring an old foreign crock, then that crock gets the benefit of an easy life in the reserves whilst the young British rider gets a hard time in the main body of the team. And then you get the headlines about young English riders "taking time out" from the sport...(never to be seen again) Edited September 23, 2019 by uk_martin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted September 23, 2019 Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 (edited) 43 minutes ago, uk_martin said: . Piotr Protasiewicz has had a long term sponsorship deal with a multi national company Pentel. You've probably used a Pentel pen yourself at some point. A British rider would be lucky to get a sponsorship with Penny's Pen Shop in Penns Lane. That sort of thing makes a difference. Depends. Robert Barth and Tobi Kroner were sponsored by McDonalds. You've heard of them. They have shops all over the world. One of the biggest fast food chains there is. But do you honestly think they were top earners ? Do you think anyone in a major McDonalds office in Europe, let alone the US had ever heard of them ? Just noticed Smoli is currently sponsored by Maccy D’s now. Possibly a continuation of the same local deal Kroner had.... Edited September 23, 2019 by iris123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted September 23, 2019 Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, uk_martin said: Not right for who? It works for Poland. It could work for Great Britain if junior riders were "protected" more in the reserve berths instead of burning them out too soon. Just look at the number of young riders who've jacked the sport in these past few years. I've never known anything like it. All we're left with now are budding young British Champions blossoming to fruition in their mid-30's. It wasn't that many years ago that a certain Patryk Dudek and Bartosz Zmarzlik spent a few years at #6 or #7 for their respective teams. It didn't do them any harm, and when Poland won the last SWC with effectively an u23 side, it shows that it doesn't do the national team any harm either. As I said, it could work in this country, and I think it should be made to work in this country. If your club uncovers a British gem of a rider, then why not let that club benefit from their discovery, and whatever investment they make in that rider? That should be the team's reward for doing something in the national interrest. But instead look what happens. As soon as a budding young British rider starts outscoring an old foreign crock, then that crock gets the benefit of an easy life in the reserves whilst the young British rider gets a hard time in the main body of the team. And then you get the headlines about young English riders "taking time out" from the sport...(never to be seen again) Not right for the clubs who don't have the best young riders basically, they have unfair advantage over the rest of the teams! As you well know we try hard in the UK to keep our teams 'equal' and 'fair' unlike Poland! It's almost a hollow victory if your team has THE BEST reserves and therefore unfair advantage! Poland do it their way, it works for them, as long as the sponsors and TV companies keep chucking the money in, all good, fill ya boots ..... Pepe's Pentel sponsorship is from Pentel-Poland, has he got family on the management? lol Edited September 23, 2019 by Trees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted September 23, 2019 Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 3 minutes ago, Trees said: Not right for the clubs who don't have the best young riders basically, they have unfair advantage over the rest of the teams! As you well know we try hard in the UK to keep our teams 'equal' and 'fair' unlike Poland! It's almost a hollow victory if your team has THE BEST reserves and therefore unfair advantage! Poland do it their way, it works for them, as long as the sponsors and TV companies keep chucking the money in, all good, fill ya boots ..... Pepe's Pentel sponsorship is from Pentel-Poland, has he got family on the management? lol I can guarantee one way to stop the Sponsors and TV companies chucking money in is for Poland to run their Speedway Leagues like the BSPA do theirs over here.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racers and royals Posted September 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 27 minutes ago, Trees said: Not right for the clubs who don't have the best young riders basically, they have unfair advantage over the rest of the teams! As you well know we try hard in the UK to keep our teams 'equal' and 'fair' unlike Poland! It's almost a hollow victory if your team has THE BEST reserves and therefore unfair advantage! Poland do it their way, it works for them, as long as the sponsors and TV companies keep chucking the money in, all good, fill ya boots ..... Pepe's Pentel sponsorship is from Pentel-Poland, has he got family on the management? lol The Polish clubs invest thousands of Zlotys in their junior programme- the kids come straight from school and jump on the clubs supplied equipment. There are rider tests every year to pass so that they are allowed to ride competitively in the junior competition programme - where the riders have plenty of meetings. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted September 23, 2019 Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 2 hours ago, racers and royals said: The Polish clubs invest thousands of Zlotys in their junior programme- the kids come straight from school and jump on the clubs supplied equipment. There are rider tests every year to pass so that they are allowed to ride competitively in the junior competition programme - where the riders have plenty of meetings. I dare say they do and that is just great .... They can't go wrong really ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racers and royals Posted September 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2019 Not sure if there is any substance to this Sportowefakty article( Google translation) Slag. What changes are PGE Ekstraliga preparing in the running table? Stars are supposed to be harder During the final of PGE Ekstraliga in Wrocław, the most important people in Polish speedway met and discussed. Gentlemen activists, he was in this group among others honorary president of PZM Andrzej Witkowski, head of Betard Sparta Wrocław Andrzej Rusko or long-term union activist Andrzej Grodzki talked about the urgent need to introduce statutory changes. Once, due to the shrinking market of Polish juniors. Two, due to financial demands of speedway riders basically freezing the transfer market. The conclusion that was drawn was that it was necessary to quickly introduce a regulation that would turn everything upside down. The plan is to make one of two changes before opening the transfer window in November. It is about enabling a foreign junior to start under numbers 6, 7 (or 14, 15). The second option is to cut the PGE Ekstraliga teams to six players. The first change would be a response to the shrinking market of Polish youth. There is practically nothing to choose from. Speed Car Motor Lublin has a strong two, but others, including Fogo Unia Leszno (junior age Bartosz Smektała) may be in trouble. In addition, at PZM they are thinking about a wider opening of the gate for young and talented foreign players (the door was opened as a reserve provision). We hear from one of the important activists that there are no Swedes in the IMŚJ and only one Briton. These countries need an impulse, perhaps also Polish money, to enable speedway riders to develop from there. When it comes to reducing the composition, a possible solution is to reduce the number of seniors. This procedure is mainly about saving costs. Now it is so that many players make a detour around Poland, collect offers, and then go to their current employer with a request for a raise. The change would cause eight players to hit the market who would have to fight for a job and not be able to make demands. By October 15, the clubs are to send letters to PZM with ideas for changes. If the majority is in favor of turning the rules upside down, then it can be expected that one of the two options described by us will be implemented. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMcCaffery Posted September 24, 2019 Report Share Posted September 24, 2019 (edited) 22 minutes ago, racers and royals said: Not sure if there is any substance to this Sportowefakty article( Google translation) Slag. What changes are PGE Ekstraliga preparing in the running table? Stars are supposed to be harder During the final of PGE Ekstraliga in Wrocław, the most important people in Polish speedway met and discussed. Gentlemen activists, he was in this group among others honorary president of PZM Andrzej Witkowski, head of Betard Sparta Wrocław Andrzej Rusko or long-term union activist Andrzej Grodzki talked about the urgent need to introduce statutory changes. Once, due to the shrinking market of Polish juniors. Two, due to financial demands of speedway riders basically freezing the transfer market. The conclusion that was drawn was that it was necessary to quickly introduce a regulation that would turn everything upside down. The plan is to make one of two changes before opening the transfer window in November. It is about enabling a foreign junior to start under numbers 6, 7 (or 14, 15). The second option is to cut the PGE Ekstraliga teams to six players. The first change would be a response to the shrinking market of Polish youth. There is practically nothing to choose from. Speed Car Motor Lublin has a strong two, but others, including Fogo Unia Leszno (junior age Bartosz Smektała) may be in trouble. In addition, at PZM they are thinking about a wider opening of the gate for young and talented foreign players (the door was opened as a reserve provision). We hear from one of the important activists that there are no Swedes in the IMŚJ and only one Briton. These countries need an impulse, perhaps also Polish money, to enable speedway riders to develop from there. When it comes to reducing the composition, a possible solution is to reduce the number of seniors. This procedure is mainly about saving costs. Now it is so that many players make a detour around Poland, collect offers, and then go to their current employer with a request for a raise. The change would cause eight players to hit the market who would have to fight for a job and not be able to make demands. By October 15, the clubs are to send letters to PZM with ideas for changes. If the majority is in favor of turning the rules upside down, then it can be expected that one of the two options described by us will be implemented. Do I hear the sound of a bubble preparing to burst? When you look at the many junior events held in Poland, albeit in front of one man and his dog, it's clear that there's a fair supply of juniors, but the standard is in question once past Drabik, Smektala, Kubera and based on last weekend at least Krakowiak. Mind you, the first three would be more than enough for most countries. This all seems to relate to eroding the bargaining position of riders. Certainly talking of putting eight seniors out of work would suggest that, but I wonder if opening up the junior berths to non-Poles is a response to excessive demands by their own youngsters? These measures, if adopted, would clearly be about cost-cutting. Just because the income in Polish Speedway is huge, it's irrelevant IF the costs are too high, or possibly even higher? It wouldn't be the first sporting league to find its riches ruinously disappearing into competitors' pockets. Edited September 24, 2019 by RobMcCaffery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racers and royals Posted September 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2019 Rumours suggest that Nicki Pedersen is leaving Zielona Gora and they are signing Antonio Lindback and Jan Kvech for 2020. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted September 24, 2019 Report Share Posted September 24, 2019 I have been highlighting the problem for a few years now. The end effect of having riders doing 2,3 or 4 leagues, is you rob youngsters of opportunities. Do that and they don't stay in the sport. Do that and you end up attracting less riders to the sport..... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted September 24, 2019 Report Share Posted September 24, 2019 6 hours ago, racers and royals said: Rumours suggest that Nicki Pedersen is leaving Zielona Gora and they are signing Antonio Lindback and Jan Kvech for 2020. Pedersen had a good year so he will not be short of a club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racers and royals Posted September 25, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2019 On 9/23/2019 at 4:02 PM, racers and royals said: times announced Sunday September 29th Gorzow v Ostrow 6pm UK time Sunday October 6th Ostrow v Gorzow 5pm UK time The other play-off times are now announced Sunday September 29th Lodz v Poznan 2pm local Sunday October 6th Poznan v Lodz 3pm local 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolskiZuzel Posted September 25, 2019 Report Share Posted September 25, 2019 On 9/24/2019 at 1:57 PM, racers and royals said: (...) The plan is to make one of two changes before opening the transfer window in November. It is about enabling a foreign junior to start under numbers 6, 7 (or 14, 15). Krzysztof Cegielski, and great majority of speedway followers in Poland are strongly against this idea. Below is what he had to say on the subject in SportoweFakty.pl (...) I would like to remind anyone that strong and rich speedway leagues in Poland did not come from the fact that one or the other club chairman, riderr or anyone else came up with the idea of building the best speedway league in the world. We achieved this position thanks to the successes of the Polish riders. It was the successes of Tomasz Gollob supported by Jarek Hampel in the GP and the entire team in the World Cups that caused the interest of big sponsors, television stations and the media. Some time ago we had to pay for television channels to show speedway on our screens. Today TV channels are fighting among themselves for it. That is why we must watch our team and introduce our own younger talented riders to it. We would not have had them, were it not for the provision for two young Polish riders at no. 6, 7 (or 14,15) Today there would be no Drabik, Smektała, Kubera, Lampart or the entire backbone of our National team. If today we forcibly throw foreign juniors into the Polish speedway at the expense of Wojdyła, Szlauderbach, Bartkowiak or Świdnicki, then we will close the natural access of more riders to ou rNational Squad.. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racers and royals Posted September 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 Agree 100% with Krzysztof Cegielski on this- he speaks a lot of sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topsoil Posted September 26, 2019 Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 Well, the Polish League playoffs have been right nail biters this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racers and royals Posted September 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 (edited) This Sunday we have the 1st legs of the promotion/relegation play-offs.(Baraz) Gorzow v Ostrow N Sport programme starts 5.45pm UK time 1st race 6pm teams https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/zuzel/relacja/102444/trulywork-stal-gorzow-arged-malesa-t-ostrovia The Lodz v Poznan matches are NOT ON TV - 1st race 1.30pm UK time(change of start time- although Lodz are still saying 1pm start) teams https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/zuzel/relacja/102447/orzel-odz-power-duck-iveston-ps-poznan Edited September 27, 2019 by racers and royals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinh88 Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 (edited) On 9/26/2019 at 9:55 AM, topsoil said: Well, the Polish League playoffs have been right nail biters this year Not really a huge suprise Tommy, given the strength in depth of Leszno and Sayfutdinov really flying. The disparity between their top 2 and Woffinden/Janowski was clear to see. The other two semi finalists were never likely to do much: with the exception of Leon Madsen and Lindgren. Edited September 27, 2019 by Robinh88 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 FZG were rather hindered with Pedersen missing through injury replaced by Smolinski, they seemed to lack any belief fight without Pedersen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted September 28, 2019 Report Share Posted September 28, 2019 Rain has seen tomorrows match at Gorzow postponed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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